Allens

Competition, Consumer & Regulatory

The Australian Parliament passes the Harper Reforms, implementing the most significant changes to Australia's competition laws in more than 20 years.

In October 2017, the Australian Parliament passed the Competition
Policy Review Bill, which implements many of the Harper Review's
recommendations on competition law and policy. The changes to the
prohibition on misuse of market power were contained in a separate
instrument, the Misuse of Market Power Bill, which passed Parliament in
August 2017. The new laws are expected to come into effect in the next
few weeks.

Please feel free to contact a member of our Competition, Consumer &
Regulatory team to discuss the new laws in more detail and how they will
apply to your organisation.

Our Competition, Consumer & Regulatory group is a powerful and talented team of lawyers operating throughout the region.

Our team offers clients experience, expertise and commonsense in dealing with the full spectrum of
competition, consumer & regulatory issues, including:

mergers and acquisitions;

joint ventures;

anti-competitive conduct allegations;

ACCC investigations and immunity applications;

access undertakings and arrangements;

ACCC enforcement and third party litigation;

marketing and advertising reviews;

review of contractual terms; and

compliance programs.

We have acted in many of Australia's major cartel investigations, prosecutions and class actions, high profile mergers, access disputes and consumer protection proceedings. We offer corporate, government and other clients the full range of services, from advice on competition laws and submissions to the ACCC
on mergers, to defending litigation and developing compliance programs. We conduct litigation and represent clients before the ACCC, the Australian Competition Tribunal, the National Competition Council and
the Federal Court. We also assist clients to structure their growth and acquisition plans to minimise competition law issues.

We have an extensive knowledge of the regulators' operations and procedures.
We have a reputation for resolving novel and complex regulatory issues with the
ACCC. Our partners edit the Australian Journal of Competition, Consumer & Regulatory , and are members
of the Competition and Consumer Committee of the Law Council of Australia.

Our lawyers are actively involved in developing competition policy, ensuring
that clients can deal effectively with the impact of deregulation and
legislative changes.

Top ranked expertise

The Competition, Consumer & Regulatory team at Allens tops the rankings in three key industry guides.

The 2017 edition of Chambers Asia-Pacific ranks Allens as top tier (band one) for competition law in Australia, noting Allens' 'standout across the board for its ability to marry highly professional, intelligent and articulate lawyers to great commerciality. Allens really understands how to work with a business and help it achieve its goals'.

Global Competition Review's GCR100 2017 also ranks Allens as a top tier 'elite' competition law practice, noting that 'the team at Allens remains one of a select few practices universally deemed to be at the top of the Australian competition bar'.

The Legal 500 Asia-Pacific 2017 ranks Allens as a top tier (band one) practice for competition and trade law in Australia, and states the practice is singled out for its ‘customer interaction and commercial understanding of issues’.